Summary: We will not investigate Mr F’s complaint about the care of his daughter because there is not enough evidence of fault and nothing to be gained from further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr F complains about the care of his daughter. His daughter is looked after by the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr F’s daughter is in care. He is unhappy with the care she receives and his dealings with the Council. I have not included the details here to protect Mr F and his daughter’s privacy.
6. The Council has responded to Mr F’s complaint at all three stages of the children’s complaints process. This is a formal procedure, set out in law, which councils must follow to investigate certain types of complaint. It involves:
• a written response from the Council (Stage 1);
• the appointment of an independent investigator to prepare a report (Stage 2); and, if the person making the complaint requests
• an independent panel to consider their representations (Stage 3).
7. When a council has investigated a complaint under the Children Act complaints process, we would not normally re-investigate it. There has already been an independent investigation and review. We consider whether the council has properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigator and review panel.
8. The independent investigator and review panel did not find any significant fault in the Council’s care of Mr F’s daughter or its dealings with Mr F.
9. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify further investigation by us, and nothing to be gained from our involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr F’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault and nothing to be gained from further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman